John Berriochoa enjoys life in a bear stand.

The bears had us surrounded. We'd seen six total, and now we could see five at one time, prowling through the brush around our Idaho bait site, popping their teeth and making threatening noises at each other. For my son-in-law John Berriochoa, who had never seen a bear in the wild before, this was a bit of bear overload.

Then the seventh bear, a big boar, arrived on the scene. Although John would have dropped the string on any of the others, I kept telling him to wait. "They're little ones," I whispered in his ear. "We'll see a bigger one." And here was a bigger one. "Shoot this one!" I motioned.

For the next 10 minutes, John stood with his bow at the ready, but the bear fed quartering toward us. No shot. When the bear finally did turn broadside, John drew his bow, but the bear turned with his rear toward us. No shot. Finally darkness settled in and closed the show. No shot.

As we walked back to the truck, John raved, "Dwight, I've never had such an adrenaline rush in my life. When I drew on that bear, my legs were shaking so bad I had to sit down to get them under control!"

To put that into perspective, you have to understand that John is no wimp. Growing up on the "res" in Oklahoma, he fought with other kids daily. He served with the U.S. Marine Corps in Desert Storm. As an amateur UFC cage fighter, he had 18 sanctioned matches and achieved national ranking. As a prison guard for many years, he kept rebellious inmates in line. In short, John knows pressure. But drawing down on that black bear gave him "the biggest adrenaline rush of my life" -- and shaking legs.

Isn't that what big game hunting is all about -- shaking legs? Some hunters seem compelled to judge the motives of other hunters and the ethics of certain hunting styles.

They appoint themselves as arbiters for right and wrong for all hunters. We see that at Bowhunter any time we publish stories about hunting methods that are not universally accepted, such as baiting. Readers jump all over us, questioning our judgment in publishing such unethical trash. One reader wrote:

"Most bear baiting today is done by professionals whose workhorses are ATVs and whose paying clients' only active participation in the 'hunt' is an unearned and anticlimactic kill."